The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group works to help people whose rights have been violated and investigates cases involving such abuse, as well as assessing the overall human rights situation in Ukraine. The Group also seeks to develop awareness of human rights issues through public events and its various publications

The President’s Administration has refused to provide Ukrainska Pravda with information regarding which residents of the government residential areas “Koncha-Zaspa” and “Pushcha-Volchytsa” receive concessions for communal services.

The letter from the Administration states that the payment rules and procedure for use of the premises in these areas is set by a classified instruction from the Cabinet of Ministers No. 31 from 19.01.1994.

“The information contained in this document is classified by the Cabinet of Ministers as information on restricted access”.

Furthermore, divulgence of the list of officials who receive concessions is prohibited by the Law on Personal Data Protection.

The letter points out that according to Article 22 of the Law on Access to Public Information, the person holding information has the right to result to answer the information request when the information which is sought is classified as information on restricted access”

Ukrainska Pravda says that it knows definitely that the current speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Lytvyn gets a 50% discount on his communal charges at Koncha-Zaspa, however the full list of those with concessions is classified.